Games; A36 BONANZA, Flight1, PC, pounds 19.99 VERDICT: *** TRAPT, PS2, Take2. pounds 39.99 VERDICT: ***.

A WORD of warning - if you're not the kind of person who hangs around the Birmingham Airport boundary fence with a pair of binoculars, then you're probably not going to like A36 Bonanza.

This is an add-on for Flight Simulator 2004, basically featuring one of the most widely used single engined propeller planes, the A36 Bonanza.

The plane you will fly is equipped with a Garmin430 GPS, colour weather radar, a Sandel 3308 EHSI, a Bendix-King stack with twin Nav, twin Com, DME, Transponder, and a version of the Bendix-King KFC225 AP.

If you understood any of that then this is probably the game for you!

The graphics are well rendered, as you'd expect from a FS2004 spin-off, but unless you're obsessed with your fuel/air mix, you'll soon be trying to land on top of a jumbo jet at Newark airport, or flying upside down under the Golden Gate Bridge.

BEN HURST

SKILL and strategy games can be hit and miss at the best of times.

Trapt is one of those titles that sits somewhere between the two ends of the spectrum. It seems to have potential but never quite hits the target.

Players take on the role of the seductive Queen Allura who, after being framed for her father's murder, is forced to flee the castle and exact revenge on those who are out to kill her. She runs to the forest where an evil spell transforms her into a trapmaster...

No, I didn't understand it either.

Basically Queen Allura must use the most evil and manipulative methods possible to see off her enemies using medieval traps.

Graphically, the game is typical of so many of these Japanese-influenced games and there's certainly nothing we haven't seen before on this front.

The gameplay is easy enough to master even if the storyline is truly ridiculous.

Trapt will appeal to some gaming fans because it does have a mildly addictive quality, but the pick-up-and play fans might find it a little too much to get their heads around.

ROSS HAWKES